Victory: Federal Judge Rejects Efforts to Silence Palestinian Advocacy in Employment Case
/Denial of summary judgment in Jinan Chehade v. Foley & Lardner means a jury could conclude the law firm is liable for employment discrimination
CONTACT: Jinan Chehade, jchehade13@gmail.com; Rima Kapitan, rima@kapitangomaa.com; Paul Vickrey, vickrey@vvnlaw.com
Monday, February 2nd, 2026 — Last week, on January 26, a federal judge in Chicago denied U.S. law firm Foley & Lardner’s attempt to evade accountability for rescinding a job offer from Jinan Chehade, an Arab Muslim lawyer, over her support for Palestinian rights. Jinan Chehade is represented by Rima Kapitan of Kapitan Gomaa Law and Paul Vickrey, Patrick Solon, and Dylan Brown of Vitale, Vickrey, Niro, Solon & Gasey.
In May 2024, Jinan Chehade and her attorneys filed a lawsuit against the law firm, alleging that Foley discriminated against Chehade because of her Arab Muslim background, and described an hours-long interrogation with two partners at the firm over her pro-Palestinian social media posts and her background.
Now, by denying Foley’s motion for summary judgment in the lawsuit, Chehade’s lawsuit moves forward to trial, where a jury could find the law firm liable for employment discrimination. As Judge Coleman wrote in her 16-page opinion, “if the factual disputes described… are resolved in favor of Chehade, a jury could reasonably conclude that Chehade’s membership in a protected class caused her employment offer to be rescinded.”
Following the start of Israel’s US-backed genocide in Gaza, there has been widespread workplace discrimination and retaliation, particularly in the legal profession, in an attempt to punish and silence employees for speaking out in favor of Palestinian freedom. Palestine Legal received over 1,000 requests for legal support related to Palestine solidarity in the last three months of 2023 alone, including 383 related to employment concerns and 124 terminations.
In contrast with their treatment of Chehade, Chehade’s lawsuit noted, partners at Foley publicly made anti-Palestinian comments without consequence, including that those who carried out the October 7 attacks — framed broadly as Palestinians and Hamas supporters — “must be liquidated as enemies of humankind” and that Palestinians should be “held accountable as a people.”
The court recognized that “the widespread fear felt by Arab American associates after the October 7 attacks, Foley’s revocation of Chehade’s offer, and comments suggesting that all Palestinians must be ‘held accountable’—reflecting stereotypes that Muslims or Arabs are violent—could support a finding that the environment at Foley was inhospitable.”
““Employers, no matter how large or small, cannot selectively interrogate, discriminate against, and fire their Arab employees for expressing solidarity with Palestinians with no consequence,” said Jinan Chehade. “This ruling sets a critical precedent for those who have faced retaliation for their principled advocacy in support of Palestinian rights, and this win belongs to all of us.”
“We are proud of Jinan for standing up to injustice, not only in Palestine but in the United States,” said Jinan’s attorney Rima Kapitan. “When employers like Foley & Lardner create different standards for supporters of Palestine, we’re going to fight back.”